MARGARITA, Venezuela Nov 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Oil Minister
Ali al-Naimi and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez will
meet on Wednesday on the sidelines of a climate conference,
according to a person close to the Saudi delegation.

Though recently appointed foreign minister, Ramirez, the
former energy minister and head of state oil company PDVSA,
remains Venezuela's OPEC delegation head and has led calls for
an emergency meeting due to global price declines.

"In principle, they are going to meet on Wednesday," said
the source, who requested anonymity because he was not
authorized to speak publicly. "There's an invitation for a lunch
or dinner, where they will talk."

The source could not say if there was a formal agenda,
including policy considerations, ahead of the next scheduled
meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
at the end of this month.

"It's probably a meeting based on the long, personal
relationship they have due to their many years in OPEC," the
source said late on Monday. "It's a Venezuelan proposal."

The long-planned climate change meeting, on Margarita Island
in the Caribbean off Venezuela, runs from Tuesday to Friday.

After the meeting, Naimi plans to be in Acapulco, Mexico,
Nov. 12-14 for a major natural gas conference.

Although the stated purpose is not to discuss oil prices,
his travel plans come at a pivotal moment for Saudi Arabia and
OPEC, which is working out how to respond to four-year price
lows.

The trip has evoked memories of the late 1990s, when Naimi
helped broker a deal with Venezuela and Mexico to curb
production and revive prices that had fallen nearly $10 a
barrel.

But while Venezuela has already begun pressing for output
curbs, the oil cartel's core Gulf members have indicated they
see no need for action.
(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)